It’s already quite clear that air pollution is very bad for us: It’s bad for our hearts, our lungs, and it causes cancer, and other allergic problems. It’s estimated to cause about 7 million deaths per year, more than malaria and AIDS combined. In fact, it’s so sad that the World Health Organization now puts air pollution in the same category as tobacco smoke, UV radiation and plutonium!

But if it’s still not convincing enough for you to take the issue seriously, a new study published in the Annals of Neurology may give your more shocking evidence that air pollution can cause damage to the brain directly.

Particles in the air can age your brain.

The study began to follow 1,403 women from a study done in the 1990s, and then re-examined their brains in the mid-2000s with MRI scans. They then determined their approximate exposure to air pollution over the years using recorded air quality data. To be independent of other things, they found that the increasing exposure of pollution would cause to the decreasing of white matter, which is equivalent of one to two year of brain aging.
Now as we can see, air pollution does not only harm your heart and lung, it can even pose damages to our big boss. Stay away from air pollutants if possible. But if unavoidable, find ways to reduce your exposure to it.